Strategic Objective (2): Sustainable Management of Globally Important Ecoregions Improved.

Strategic Objective (3): Use of Voluntary Reproductive Health Services Increased.

Strategic Objective (4): Increased Incomes for the Poor in Selected Economic Regions.

These four Strategic Objectives are closely inter-related. Better environmental management and improved local government administration, with increased citizen participation and management of local services, will lead to improved democratic governance and sustainable economic benefits from natural resources. Improved health services provided by local governments and the private sector will lead to lower population growth and better maternal health, which are vitally important to achieving higher per capita incomes and improved welfare for citizens. Increased incomes for the poor will help democracy deliver a promised better life to the citizens of Paraguay .

Increasingly responsive local governments have begun to take a more active role in the country’s development and to provide some real promise for the future. A modern generation of political leaders is now being groomed at the local and regional levels. Constitutionally elected governors and mayors are now discussing important issues at the national level as well. Paraguay ’s new generation of leaders appear to better understand the importance of participation, transparency, and honesty in public management. They are less vulnerable to corruption than the older, more entrenched national political actors.

Pockets of energetic civil society organizations have also emerged and begun to call for a change from "politics as usual." Citizens have made other initial forays into the process of participating in local decision-making and planning in some parts of the country. The scarcity of resources continues to be an obstacle to full implementation of these plans. In response, increases in tax collections, cost recovery through user fees, and other financial issues are now being implemented.

An effective, well-organized civil society is assisting local governments in meeting demands for public service delivery. In fact, the most progressive and positive system changes, such as the decentralization of primary health care, are already taking place at the local and regional level. At a national level, in a separate but complementary area, USAID is supporting a frank, open dialogue on policy formulation and implementation.

This SO complements and strengthens the Democracy SO. Continued environmental destruction can only lead to increase rural poverty and future loss of economic opportunity, which is a destabilizing factor in Paraguay ’s still-fragile democracy. USAID/Paraguay believes that a vibrant civil society, actively participating within a functioning democracy, is critical to successfully addressing these environmental concerns through effective advocacy and participation in creating and implementing national environmental policies. Accordingly, the initiatives with civil society organizations and local government strengthening that are key components of USAID/Paraguay’s Democracy SO are part of its environmental programming. Finally, this SO will also support and complement decentralization activities conducted under the Democracy SO through the identification and training of key departmental and municipal government leaders in environmental management.

The conservation of biodiversity found in three key ecoregions located in Paraguay , Argentina , Bolivia , and Brazil depends upon the success of Paraguayan coordination with the environmental management activities of these countries. Evidence of success are adequate and competent Paraguayan participation in the completion and initial implementation of regionally coordinated ecoregional conservation plans. Paraguayan NGOs, civil society organizations, and departmental and municipal government leaders are the primary targets of the Mission ’s programming efforts, which are being coordinated with USAID programming in Brazil and Bolivia . Successful models, experiences, and lessons learned are also being shared at the regional level.

Conservation effectiveness in Paraguay is currently limited by policy, legal and financial constraints. In order for ecoregional conservation plans to be completed and implemented, it is imperative that Paraguay develop the necessary policy, legal and financial mechanisms to support them. This directly complements planned Mission activities in democracy directed at implementing and sustaining a policy dialogue on key national issues.

The objective of this program is to increase the use of voluntary reproductive health services. While strengthening existing public and private family planning programs, this SO contains a larger program of reproductive health initiatives. It involves a multi-institutional approach that is augmenting delivery of both reproductive health and family planning services to rural and urban adolescents, single adults, and couples. It is enabling Paraguay to approach the goal of "every child a wanted and healthy child, and every mother a survivor." In order to further strengthen its reproductive health program, the Mission is directing activities towards reducing Paraguay ’s maternal mortality rate through the provision of enhanced reproductive health services and maternal health care, thereby also improving early child survival rates.

USAID/Paraguay is focusing on improving decentralized community health care, increasing community participation, improving local-level management of health providers, and building NGO capacity. Technical assistance is being directed at services provided through local governments and the private sector, including continued support of health decentralization. The Mission is strengthening community outreach programs, including the development of information and education campaigns.

This program complements and supports the Mission ’s Democracy activities. USAID/Paraguay believes that delivery of health and other basic services is more effective when there is a high level of citizen participation and local-level planning and administration. Under the Democracy program, local governments are being assisted in providing better services, and citizen participation in decision-making is being increased. Support for decentralization in health and other sectors is a major focus for USAID. This support includes capacity building for local governments, as well as the facilitation of participatory local-level planning. All of these activities will help strengthen the delivery of, and widespread access to, decentralized, community based health services.

These activities, which began 2003, will complement and reinforce USAID/Paraguay’s main Strategic Objective in democracy. Business development services will support those enterprise companies, other institutions, and individuals that provide services and supply products to local and international markets. Technical assistance and training will be provided to market participants. This will ultimately result in higher incomes to the poor. Technical assistance and training will be provided to financial institutions to provide more financial services to residents in rural areas. Policy and regulatory support will be developed to improve the environment for micro and small rural businesses and to ensure that whatever gains are realized by the poor will not be taken away through policies that offer unfair advantages to others.